Fortune Favors The Brave
by Kyte Pheonix
Summary: This is a take off from the Battle at the Valley of the End... Basically shifting to total non-cannon from that point onwards because I can :p Naruto doesn't leave the village, Sasu gets vilified, Saku gets a brain... & things just get all mixed. Pairings of a m/m nature will occur, f/m ones may occur along with all other combinations but for now the M rating will be for violence.


_Disclaimer_ \- I don't own Naruto. Is anyone really shocked at this? Well I am writing this fic for fun, a total lack of profit and for shits and giggles... Or at least the chance to write fight scenes, action scenes and sex scenes! - I was going to go for a sex, drugs and rock n roll joke there but someone else had one of those on top of their story :(

So I have always been a bit of a fan of the more... unusual pairings within the Naruto storylines. Most of this has to do with a total dislike of Sasuke, Hinata, Sakura, Jiraiya ... well this list goes on but I'm sure you'll spot the main members of the cast that I dislike as nasty things happen to them ^.^

At this point in time I'm going to say that this is going to be a Naru/Kiba story... probably... well maybe... and yes that means it will be m/m. If this bugs you then go find something else to read.

Now saying that I know the way my mind works and I am honestly not really laying anything out for this story at all, it's more or less going to write itself and see where the characters go to. I am pretty much picking up directly after the fight between Naruto and Sasuke at the Valley of the End. So up to that point everything cannon stands (unless I screw up and forget something or just change it in a flash back or something) after that point I'm officially tossing everything out of the window and making up a new plot. Some things from the original story lines may still be present but that's just because I liked them ^.^

*Ponders other warnings to myself* Well, beyond gay sex (yes it will happen, no I won't warn you again :p deal with it) I'm sure I'll end up throwing in a grab bag of other weird things because the idea sounds good... or maybe I won't!... However I will confirm that I do have a soft spot for Kankurō so odds are good that he's going to play some kind of major role. (Edit... Yeah he's in it ^.^ everyone loves make-up doll boy right?)

If anything crops up in future chapters that I deem warning-worthy then I'll throw some kind of message at the top of that chapter.

Anyways, please enjoy... and do bear with me as I get into the habit of writing again, its been well over 10 years since I last even attempted anything like this ^.^

Oh, P. Note ... . ... I don't actually have a beta right now since no one in my little black book is returning my messages so at this point this story is going out un-beta'ed and at an uneven release schedual because I'm writing it, re-writing it, figuring out how to get myself out of the stupid plot holes I write myself into, editing, re-writing again and then proofreading ... so ... YEAH ... I'm nuts, welcome to my world :3

 _ **Prologue : Present Day**_

A small plume of smoke curled into the air from the head of the Forth Hokage's monument, the blond removing the cigarette from between his lips passed it over his head and brought it to rest between the lips of the brunette. They were laying up there on their backs, trying to forget the cares of the village hidden in the leaves spread out below them, with only the top of their heads touching, doing nothing but staring up into the clouds.

The brunette passed the cigarette back with the same practiced motion and sighed out a cloud of smoke "how much longer have we got till we have to get to this meeting?"

The blond chuckled around the white tube in his mouth, making it bob and weave around. "Oh, it started about five minutes ago now I think ... Grandma can just wait for us, not like she can really start without us anyways."

"So, so troublesome..." With a rustle of hair against hair the brunette stands up and offers a hand down to the blond who eyes it with a grin. "Come on Naru... We might still be able to dodge getting punched through a wall if we hurry, because it really hurts like a bitch when she lands a hit on you."

The blond just lets the grin spread out over his face till it touches his eyes with true mirth before grasping the offered hand and pulls himself up. The cigarette casually dropped and ground into the stone beneath their feet before leaning forward and swiping his tongue over the nose of the brunette and jumping down the carved cliff face, his voice echoing up from below. "Tag! You're it! Catch me if you can mutt."

With a dispirited sigh and muttered "I should have seen that coming..." The brunette took off in pursuit of his partner towards the Hokage tower.

 _ **Chapter 1 : Parting Unto Death**_

The usually bubbly blond is currently partaking in one of his least favorite pastimes. Staring at a hospital room's sterile white ceiling, his chakra burned body wrapped in healing bandages making him resemble a mummy rather than his usual vibrant orange offense to people's vision/ Honestly the blond was nothing if not feeling more down than usual. His best friend had just thoroughly beaten him at his best and, for all intents left him for dead at the base of that damned waterfall and now to top things off he was stuck in hospital wrapped up tight enough that even moving is difficult. The end result of this is that the silent depression the boy had slowly been shedding these past few years was quickly coming back with a vengeance. He could feel the pressure of it growing within his chest, another thing to hide away from his other friends as if that wasn't a big enough pile of crap to drown anyone as it is.

The door slid open softly as Sakura stepped in, her head slightly bowed, her voice muted with sorrow and anguish. "Naruto, how are you doing?"

The blond sighs softly and reached out to capture one of the young girls hands as she sat down in the chair next to his bed. "It's okay Sakura-chan, I am going to get him back. If it's the last thing I do, I will bring Sasuke back to Konoha. If I can't do a simple thing like that ... Then how can I ever hope to achieve my dream of becoming Hokage?"

Closing her eyes, tears started to leak down Sakura's face and after a few moments pause she shakes her head. "No Naruto. We tried to stop him and he almost killed you, I know you promised to return him to the village no matter what, but I release you from that promise. Sasuke made his own choice to leave, to abandon everything he knew for a slim chance at beating his brother by siding with Orochimaru. He abandoned you, me, Kakashi-sensei... He left the whole village behind... He turned his back on us all. The next time we meet him he will either be returning to beg forgiveness or..." A soft sign and more tears escape the distraught girl. "He will be our enemy and either he will be beaten or we will ... Again..." Looking up to meet Naruto's shadowed eyes a spark of fierce determination forms within her eyes. "We will never loose to him again Naruto. You hear me? Next time we see him he is either going to surrender to us or we are going to put him into the ground."

Naruto simply stared at Sakura, not quite comprehending what she was telling him, why was she passing up her crush? A frown formed on his face as he asked the question obviously plaguing his mind right now. "But why Sakura-chan? He's your friend just as much as he is mine ..."

Sakura wiped at her eyes and gave Naruto a soft smile. "We tried, we failed... this whole ordeal has shown me that I need to change my outlook on things. I was useless..."

"No, Sakura. You tried to stop him just as we all did" Naruto said, shifting up in bed to stare at the girl in front of him.

"Naruto just listen..." she said cutting him off. "He knocked me out with ease and just left me sitting in the park. Just as you want to find your own way in this world, so do I. I'm going to see Lady Tsunade tomorrow. I'm going to ask her to train me to become a combat medic-nin." A finger gets waved under the blond's nose as he opens his mouth to speak. "I said hush" then nods as Naruto obediently closes his mouth to let her continue uninterrupted. "You know full well that compared to most of you guys I'm just not that good of a ninja. It's time that I put aside my fairytale dreams and start making my own future. You have the power and ability to become Hokage someday, my dream for the future just up and left to become a missing-nin like his asshole brother. His only saving grace is that he didn't massacre a whole family of people on his way out the door."

A strangely somber Naruto looks at the girl sitting beside his bed. "Are you sure? You know that I have no problem keeping my word to you and drag his ass back to this village kicking and screaming if I have to. I would do anything for you Sakura-chan, you know that."

"My mind is made up Naruto. The past is past and now we need to look forward to the future." She presses the palm of her hand gently against the blond's bandaged cheek. "I... I know you have feelings for me Naruto, but I'm going to get this out of the way now too and say that I will always see you as one of my best and greatest friends. Just... not more than that." Another tear slips down her own cheek as she sniffs. "Forget Sasuke Naruto. Move on, take revenge if you get the chance but don't let this consume your life. Revenge is exactly what caused this entire mess to begin with and I don't want to loose two friends to that."

A still somewhat bemused Naruto nods slowly. "O-kay. The past is behind us. We move into the future as friends." A chuckle escapes the blonds lips as he pushes forwards and wraps his arms around Sakura's body, hugging her tightly. "Just promise me one thing... after you become a medic-nin you don't spend half your time punching me like Granny-Tsunade does whenever she has to heal me. I might heal quickly but that shit really does hurt."

Wrapping her arms around Naruto and returning his hug Sakura nods softly. "I think I can do that. At least as long as you don't give me a hard time like you do her." Pushing herself away from Naruto she smiles at him with still damp eyes. "Now I have to go and see Shikamaru, Neji, Chōji, Kiba and Akamaru... make sure they are all doing okay and apologize to them as well. I pestered you all into leaving and they all got hurt as a result of this." Pushing herself up off the chair Sakura moves over to the door and shoots a smile back in Naruto's direction "Thank you Naruto and, I'm sorry."

Reclining back into bed Naruto smiles and nods at the pink haired girl. "It's okay Sakura. Tell the others I will check in on them later just as soon as I can manage to persuade Granny to get these damn bandages off me. Or I manage to give her the slip for five minutes. Whichever comes first."

As the door slides closed a breeze blows into the room and Naruto looks over to see Jiraiya perched on the windowsill giving the recently closed door a look of confusion. "From what I know of that girl that is quite out of character." With a shrug and a grin the sage looks over to the boy in his bed and laughs. "Well obviously Tsunade has developed a few new kinks that I don't know about yet. She has really gone and done a number on you hasn't she? So. You lost Sasuke and you appear to be taking it okay. On the bright side Orochimaru took a new body not too long ago now so Sasuke has at least three years before he has to worry about being taken over. But from what I just heard I don't think that is really going to matter either way is it?"

Flopping over onto his side so that he doesn't have to look at the Sanin Naruto shakes his head. "No. Sakura released me from my promise to her to bring him back and, she's right. He abandoned us. He wants to make his own way and for nothing else than the friendship I thought we had I am going to honor his choice... No matter how knuckle-headed and idiotic it is... It's still his choice and his life."

Moving to sit on the edge of the bed Jiraiya reaches out and places one hand onto the blond's shoulder.

Shooting out of the bed and into a far corner of the room Naruto points a finger angrily at the Sanin. "GAHHH! Damnit! New rule Pervy-sage... No touching me after making perverted comments. ESPECIALLY about Granny-Tsunade..."

Shaking his head Jiraiya laughs at the blond's frantic actions. "Okay, okay. You really weren't kidding when you said you healed quickly were you." Dropping back into a serious tone he continues. "Listen I'm going to come and take you away from Konoha soon so I can start training you for the upcoming fight with the Akatsuki. You know they will be coming for you and the nine-tails and you are going to need to prepare. I know this is somewhat sudden but..."

"No."

"Naruto..."

"I said no Pervy-sage. If you want to train me you can do it here. Now that Sasuke is gone and Sakura is going to be re-training as a medic-nin this village is going to need me to help protect it. I am tired of hiding everything away. If I am going to do this then I am going to do it with the help of my friends, I will not make the same mistake as that bastard and turn my back on everyone just for a selfish gain." Naruto nodded firmly, standing up in his corner and stares down the older Sanin. "Actually lets make this really simple. If you want to help you can train all of us or none at all. Pervert or not you are one of the legendary ninja of this village so if you're determined to help me, you're going to do it on my terms, got it?"

Jiraiya slowly stands up and walks over to the window, looking out over the roofs of Konoha thoughtfully. "I'm not going to change your mind on this am I?"

"Sorry, no. Not this time."

Looking over his shoulder at the resolute young blond he nods slowly. "Okay then. I'll sort things out with Tsunade and you can select three others to be in this elite little group of yours. No matter what you say I'm not going to be training every single person in this village. But I will take on you and three others. You can share what I teach you with your other friends if you choose, but that is as far as I will bend on this and that" a finger stabs out in the blond's direction to point directly at him "is going to be on top of your normal team commitments, unless Tsunade agrees to permanently shift teams around."

As the now grinning blond bounces back into his bed he grins at the toad summoner. "You won't regret this Pervy-sage. We will make you proud, it'll be our ninja way to be the best that we can be!"


End file.
